before the matchup, and he
could easily have occupied
that seat. Instead, the entire
color guard was ushered
o; the ;eld a;er their performance and never got to
see the game.

“A;er that I wanted tocreate an organizationwhere people could get atax write-o; for donatingtickets to our military per-sonnel,” says Focareto, adisabled vet who served inthe U.S. Navy during theGulf War. “I knew otherorganizations and businesses gave tickets toveterans as a side project, but I wanted tohave a nonpro;t that focused exclusively onproviding veterans and military familiesfree entertainment.”A couple of months a;er that 2008 SuperFOURTEEN YEARS AGO, when Costcomember Ryan J. Orr of Rancho Cucamonga,California, heard servicemen and service-women were being sent to Iraq, he made it hismission to thank them.

“A lot of people, including myself, were
moved to do something as a result of 9/11,”
Orr says about the idea behind Operation
Community Cares (operationcommunity
cares.org), an organization that supports
military personnel by sending care packages
to them in remote locations where they are
stationed, such as Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan
and Pakistan.

In 2002, Orr teamed up with the Veterans
of Foreign Wars Post 8680 Women’s Auxiliary
to start the organization. “This is an opportunity for us all to come together as a community to do something,” he explains.

The organization, which started with
approximately 15 people, now has a board of

20 people who coordinate with hundreds ofvolunteers for packing dates scheduledbefore Christmas and the Fourth of July.Care packages are filled with donated snacksand toiletries and sealed with encouragingletters of thanks from the volunteers.“Imagine being away from your familyfor six to 12 months at a time in a very hostileenvironment, so when these guys and gals getthese things, their morale is completelyboosted,” Orr says.Collection sites for donations are locatedat businesses in Southern California.(Operation Community Cares is acceptingRyan J. Orr at apacking day eventto prepare carepackages for troops.

Tickets for troops Bowl, Vet Tix (
vettix.org) became a reality. Since then, more than 440,000 active military and veterans have become eligible to receive free tickets. ;ey can ask to attend big-name
concerts; watch college football games, Major
League Baseball games and NASCAR races;
or go to events like Comic-Con.

One of the bene;ciaries of the program,
Joel DeLand, a six-year Army veteran who
served in Afghanistan and Iraq, has attended
a number of Chicago Cubs baseball games
and a few concerts. Many veterans face ;nan-cial challenges when making the transition
from the military to civilian life, he says.
Because of that, events that interest them are
cost-prohibitive. Returning home from overseas con;icts, he says, also can lead to antisocial behavior and depression. Vet Tix provides
an antidote to these negatives.

“Vet Tix encourages the recipient to goout and be social,” says DeLand. “and not iso-late themselves from others.”Focareto says all branches of the militaryare eligible for these tickets, including theNational Guard and reservists, veterans of alleras and families of someone who was killedin action.—Heather Larson

Carepackages

donations until November 17, 2016, for their
packing date on November 19, 2016.)

Orr says military personnel are always so
appreciative to receive something that
reminds them of home, such as hot sauce to
put on their military food rations, or something they need, such as baby wipes they can
use when they don’t have access to showers.

“We’re trying to send four to five boxes or
more to each person we’re sending to so that
they can play Santa Claus with the folks who
are not receiving them currently,” he adds.

—Christina Guerrero

DA
N
G
RIF
FI
T
H

WHEN MIKE FOCARETO went to the 2008
Super Bowl in Phoenix, the seat next to him
stayed empty during the entire football game.
;is didn’t sit well with Focareto, a Costco
member in Arizona. A military friend of his
had performed as part of the color guard